Another One In The Books

The last three days were spent aerifing the course to prepare it form the upcoming season.  We completed aerification of greens, tees and fairways.  In addition to that we handled more than 700 tons of sand that was applied to the freshly punched turf.  Needless to say it is a monumental task moving that much material around the golf course.

This year we used a Verti-Drain deep tine aerifer on greens  that was set at a depth of 9" with 1/4" solid times. At first glance the greens appear as if they were not aerified but that is not the case.  The surface impact appears minimal but a deep fracturing of the soil has taken place now allowing free movement of oxygen and water into the rootzone. The end result will be a deeper healthier root system of the plant.

The fairways have been aerified for a total of three times in the last four weeks.  We took the liberty of "sneaking in" a couple of punches on the fairways back in March with the weather cooperating with us. These multiple aerifications will greatly help us control our surface firmness and allow numerous channels to be filled with sand.  Over the course of the three fairway aerifications 4.5 million holes per acre  were punched and 600 tons of sand was applied to the fairways alone.

Right now the fairways more closely resemble bunkers than anything else,  but over the next week the grass will once again push through and start help the sand to work it's way down.  The next several mowings will be extremely rough on the equipment  but the end result is all that matters.

Another One Is Done

As the wildlife activity increases another green has been shut down for the season.  The latest green to be closed is #6 which was one of the most heavily damaged ones last year.

The fencing has been put up and but unfortunately some minor damage has already occurred. That being said the entire green was dormant seeded and then covered with a heavy layer of sand to help insulate and protect the green throughout the winter.  The hoof marks appear to have only scraped away the turf leaving the crown of the plants in tact which should allow for a full recovery.  If not new seed is in place to help repair these areas come spring.

Additional greens will be closed as deemed by the wildlife traffic.  Eventually they will all be shut down by the 1st of December.

Close Up of Hoof Damage

Heavy Sand Topdressing

Aerification

Anther aerification is in the books and the golf course is on the road to recovery.  We were fortunate with the weather coopering until the very last minute on Wednesday.  The rain started to fall at 5:00pm right as we were completing work on #18 fairway.

Similar to last fall you will find the golf course very playable after aerification, the greens are perhaps the most playable of all the surfaces. The tees and fairways will take a little longer to return to normal conditions but it will be worth the wait. 

The fairways were heavily topdressed with sand to help with drainage and surface firmness to increase ball roll off the tee shots. This will have been the second complete topdressing of the fairways with sand and this process will require several more years to fully realize the improvements.  More than 500 tons of sand was applied to the fairways after aerifiction, the majority of the sand worked its way into the aerification holes while a significant amount still sits on the surface. The sand will take a couple of weeks to fully work its way into the turf canopy as new growth takes place in the fairways. Currently the fairways look more like bunkers, but the amount of sand needed to modify the surface requires that we apply these heavy rates to achieve our long term goals.

Applying The Sand

Fairway Covered In Sand

After Sand Has Been Drug In

Side Benefit

Last week we went out and heavily topdressed some of the lower lying bowled fairway areas on the fourth fairway. The sand was applied to help us with improving the fairway firmness in these low areas that tend to get wet and stay wet.

Sand Topdressed In The low Fairway Areas

Close Up Of Sand Thickness

We applied the sand after aerifing in an attempt to get some of the material in the aerification holes to help allow moisture to move more quickly through the surface and down into the soil profile.  This process will be repeated two to three time a year in localized "problem" areas throughout the golf course. Over time the sand will also help with surface firmness which will in turn help with more ball roll off the tee shots.  

Perhaps the nicest immediate side effect of applying the topdressing sand this time of year was the acceleration of spring green up.  In five days  time after applying the sand to the fairway the Bentgrass color went from brown to green. This rapid green up can be attributed to the sand increasing the surface temperature and therefore aiding in the green up process.


Green Up Of Turf From Sand Cover

The Final Push

Today is the final day of aerification and we are well on our way to the finish line.  Over the past two days we were able to complete the aerfication and topdressing of all  the greens and tees. The fairways will be completed today as far as aerification goes, but the slow process of sand topdressing them will take another two days to complete. Unfortunately the final fairways will be topdressed through play which will add to the time to complete the task. Your patience durring this process will be greatly appreciated. 

Once  we reopen for play tomorrow I think the members will be pleasantly surprised with how playable the golf course is.